Stephanie Kurland, second from left, with her husband Steve and daughters Erin and Crysten pose for a photo at last year's Boston Marathon. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Boston Strong, meet Lyons Strong.

Stephanie Kurland is the point where those two fighting spirits meet. Last year, the Lyons resident ran the Boston Marathon for the first time, finishing just half an hour before the bombs went off on Boylston Street. On Monday, Kurland returns — both in support of the race's endurance and to raise $3,000 for her flood-stricken hometown, which was devastated by the rising St. Vrain River in September.

"Of course, I'd like it if it was much more, but people are pressed already and there's so many worthy causes out there," said Kurland, who arrived in Boston on Thursday. "It's significant enough that it can restore Lyons in a small way — maybe help with a softball field, or a new trail somewhere — but it's something I can do."

The town of just over 2,000 people took more than $50 million in damage from the flood. Lyons officials estimated in February that about 310 residents had not yet been able to return.

When the water ran high last fall, Kurland was one of the lucky ones. The flood never reached her home. But she still had to evacuate for a month and a half with everyone else. Like them, she came back to a changed landscape.

"I knew Lyons was damaged, but I figured I'd still be able to run like usual," she said. "But when I got down the highway, I realized that every place in Lyons I've run was washed out. All the trails that ran along the river and through the parks — gone. It was a sinking feeling, that something you've loved has changed so dramatically."

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That drew her mind back to Boston. So many people there ran for a cause, she recalled. Why not join in?

Deciding that people would be more likely to help if they saw what happened, Kurland decided to put a video online. That took a team effort. Two teams, actually; Lyons High School put both its cross-country team and its video production team on the project.

Lyons resident Stephanie Kurland runs in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Kurland is running in again this year to raise money for the Lyons Community Foundation. (COURTESY PHOTO)

"Kayakers, runners and bikers all have a home in Lyons — or at least, they used to," a student's voice says on the video, which highlights the damage to the town's parks and trails. According to the site, the campaign has raised $3,030 as of Saturday and is still accepting donations.

It's that collective push that Kurland prefers to point at rather than her own efforts, the team that won't quit. And lately, she's been surrounded by that kind of stubborn resilience.

"There's signs everywhere saying 'Boston Strong!'" she said after arriving in Massachusetts. "There's just so much strength and positivity and love for this city and love for this event. That part just inspires me."

And just maybe, seems so familiar.

"The spirit of Lyons, that little town, is so similar," Kurland said. "That's why I love living here."